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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1624 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1624

    To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to 
establish uniform national standards for the interconnection of certain 
                   small power production facilities.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2011

  Mr. Lujan (for himself, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. 
Tonko, and Mr. Polis) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to 
establish uniform national standards for the interconnection of certain 
                   small power production facilities.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. UNIFORM NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR INTERCONNECTION OF CERTAIN 
              SMALL POWER PRODUCTION FACILITIES.

    (a) Findings.--Section 2 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 
Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2601) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``, and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) uniform national standards for the interconnection of 
        certain small power production facilities.''.
    (b) Standards for Interconnection.--
            (1) In general.--Subtitle B of title I of the Public 
        Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621 et 
        seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 118. INTERCONNECTION OF CERTAIN SMALL POWER PRODUCTION 
              FACILITIES.

    ``(a) Standard for Facilities That Have a Power Production Capacity 
of Not More Than 2 Megawatts.--The Commission shall establish a 
standard by which each electric utility shall make available, on 
request, interconnection service to any electric consumer that the 
electric utility serves with respect to any facility on the premises of 
the electric consumer that has a power production capacity of not more 
than 2 megawatts.
    ``(b) Enforcement.--
            ``(1) By the commission.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph 
                (2), the Commission may enforce the standard 
                established under subsection (a) against any electric 
                utility.
                    ``(B) Administration.--The requirements of the 
                standard established under subsection (a) shall be 
                treated as a rule enforceable under the Federal Power 
                Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.).
            ``(2) By a state regulatory authority.--The Commission may 
        enter into an agreement with a State regulatory authority to 
        discontinue the enforcement of this section in the State by the 
        Commission if the Commission finds that the State or the State 
        regulatory authority has adopted and is enforcing a standard 
        for interconnection services that is consistent with or exceeds 
        the standard established under subsection (a).
            ``(3) Resumption of commission enforcement.--The Commission 
        may rescind an agreement under paragraph (2) and resume 
        enforcement of the standard established under subsection (a) 
        if, as determined by the Commission, the State or the State 
        regulatory authority has failed to enforce a consistent State 
        standard.
    ``(c) Considerations.--In establishing the standard under 
subsection (a), the Commission shall consider the standards developed 
by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: IEEE Standard 
1547 for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power 
Systems, as they may be amended from time to time. The standard 
established under subsection (a) shall promote current best practices 
of interconnection for distributed generation, including practices 
stipulated in model codes from State best practices. The standard 
established under subsection (a) shall be just and reasonable, and not 
unduly discriminatory or preferential.
    ``(d) Model Standard for Facilities of up to 20 Megawatts.--The 
Commission shall establish a model standard for the interconnection of 
small power production facilities that have a power production capacity 
of more than 2 megawatts, but not more than 20 megawatts, for the 
consideration of State regulatory authorities under section 
111(d)(15).''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--The table of contents in section 
        1(b) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 
        U.S.C. prec. 2601) is amended by adding at the end of the items 
        relating to subtitle B of title I the following:

``Sec. 118. Interconnection of certain small power production 
                            facilities.''.
                                 <all>
```